Albrecht Stenzinger, Vice Chair at Institute of Pathology, shared a post on Linkedin:
“Have you wondered why the (under) $1,000 genome is not already widely used in molecular diagnostics for patients with solid tumors, especially considering that, in combination with whole transcriptome sequencing, it allows for the most comprehensive and detailed diagnostic approach – that would also support learning health care?If cost for WGS are (under) $1,000, why do centers widely and predominantly use (tumor-only) NGS panels, if NGS is available at all?
Is it the lack of expertise, the lack of IT infrastructure, which is necessary to run genomes properly, the TAT, country-specific reimbursement schemes, the need to demonstrate clinical utility in prospective controlled clinical trials?
While these points and considerations certainly play a significant role, costs are still a very big, if not the biggest, barrier.
Not the raw sequencing costs, but the costs for whole genome (and transcriptome) sequencing as a clinical-grade test that covers the entire diagnostic process chain, including pre-analytics, wet lab, dry lab, reporting, and regulatory requirements.
We present a full cost calculation with a cost matrix that shows how the true costs are currently distributed. Our work dissects and identifies many influencing factors and considers those for various cost models.
We have also developed a cost calculator tool that is freely available and allows any laboratory worldwide to calculate costs individually.
We will expand and update this tool going forward.
It is in the paper – go check it out!
We hope that this work will contribute to discussions among patients, health care providers, payors, and industry players on factors currently holding back a broad diagnostic outreach of WGS as clinical-grade test for cancer patients.
One major conclusion is: we need more deflationary factors through continuous innovation.”
Title: Implementing whole genome and transcriptome sequencing for cancer patients in routine healthcare: a comprehensive guide to costing
Authors: Christian Altbürger, Michael Menzel, Susanne Beck, Katja Lorenz, Marie-Luise Brygider, Carolin Ploeger, Andy Kahles, Markus Ball, Martina Kirchner, Fabian Schnecko, Andreas Jung, Frederick Klauschen, Tobias Grob, David Horst, Daniela Hirsch, Matthias Evert, Peter Schirmacher, Jan Budczies, Daniel Kazdal, Albrecht Stenzinger
Read the Full Article.
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